About

$7,607

pledged of $5,000 goal

140

backers

The Get-Gos Action Hour! is the story of cobbling together a new way to live after life falls completely apart, as told through music, cartoons, and film.

NEW UPDATE: Thanks to all of you, we're making a dang album! We're making cartoons! YOU DID THAT! Everything beyond this point will still be poured into the project, for more recording time, more extra materials, whatever it takes to make this project something you can be proud of! So, please keep sharing the links with your friends and enemies! Any contributions over $50 will continue to receive a jingle on the social media of their choice. Also, we'll have a big countdown livestream on the last day, more about that to come!Check out the first single in the music video below, and keep on reading for all the information (and rewards!) about this project!

I'm Paul Melancon, and I make music. Literate, moody, indie-pop music that charms up front while hiding disturbed and defective characters inside. People say I have the voice of an angel -- but it hides complex emotion within its crannies, too.

photo by Michael Morell

I've released three critically acclaimed CDs, toured with the Indigo Girls, and played Music Midtown (Atlanta), SXSW, and International Pop Overthrow (LA, Boston, Atlanta). Paste Magazine said I was “in a category with the most talented of indie-pop singer-songwriters.”

And then I shook hands with futility and stopped making music. Don’t worry. It all comes around in the end, which brings us to why we’re here …

Another thing to know about me is that I suffer from severe clinical depression. A decade ago, after years of treatment, I became meds-resistant. I quit making music. Quit everything, really. What was the point? Facing more severe treatment options here than I could stomach, in desperation I did something entirely unlike me: I traveled to Peru to take ayahuasca, a traditional ceremonial hallucinogen that research has shown can positively affect the depressive mind.

I know it sounds crazy... but in the Amazon, my heart and brain were rewritten. As a result, my life changed. Not instantly, of course. It took years of processing and thinking, living and learning. What I finally came away with was this: my cynicism had never created anything; I couldn’t be jaded and live. In a world of "no," the answer is, "yes." This is not a simple line and it requires constant attention. But through it, I learned to love music again and to take my own ideas more seriously. Bigger, crazier ideas that I would have talked myself out of in a previous life. And that is how I came to be making this project: a Power Popera, complete with a record, original cartoons and videos, and a live and webcast show of the whole shebang.

The Get-Gos Action Hour! is the story of cobbling together a new way to live after life falls completely apart, as told through music, cartoons, and film. Because of my peculiar human perspective, it’s also told through the lens of Hanna Barbera and existential depression, Werner Herzog and Persona, Amazonian magic and Ziggy Stardust guest-starring on Scooby-Doo. It’s all about saying yes instead of no, and I hope you will love and believe in that after you’ve experienced it, too.

Now that we've met that initial goal, you can help me complete the story by funding the Get-Gos audiovisual extravaganza! My goal all along was to make an entire world for this record, and I couldn't be more excited that we have a chance to make it happen! A video is planned for each song on the album. Half of them will be 10-minute Get-Gos cartoons. These have all been scripted, the character designs are complete, and all that remains is the actual work of animating them.

If we finish the series, I will screen the completed Get-Gos cartoon and film collection at the CD release party and make them available online for all you lovely people. What do you say, wanna make a movie?

In making this project, I have stretched myself as a songwriter and musician, taught myself to use animation software and other tools, and built my skills as an artist and storyteller with a desire to deliver an important message. I have even stretched my understanding of how the music industry works – it’s changed just a tiny bit from my last record-making go-round!

Alas, my personal funding ability only stretches so far, and making a record that I and my fans can be proud of is not cheap. In this much more exciting and scary world of artist and patron working in support of each other, I think I have a much better chance to really speak to the people who want to experience this kind of music and art. But it also means I need all of their help -- your help -- to finish making this project the right way, with adequate studio time, mixing, mastering, and production funding.

I believe with collaboration from my friends, family, and fans, we can put a great story into the world in a way it has certainly never been told before. By meeting the funding goal, we can bring not just a new record into the world, and not just a couple of cartoons and videos: we can bring the Power Popera experience (now with 65% less cynicism, guaranteed!). So check out my incentives for backers – things like swag, original art, even spirit guidance toward taking on your own bigger, crazier ideas – and if you are considering a donation, thank you, and I really hope that the answer is “yes.”

CD!

The Get-Gos Action Hour will be printed on eco-friendly packaging by my friends at Atomic Disc. I'll be making the album art myself! And it looks like this: can't wait for you to get it!

KEYCHAIN!

Using the finest technology known to man, I will be hand-creating Shrinky-Dink keychains with my mantra "the answer is yes," to remind me, and you, to bring your positivity in and out to the world.

BUTTONS!

The Get-Gos are cute, and you can get this button set with all of their adorable faces.

JOIN THE UNIVERSE!

Send me a reference photo, and I'll draw you into the world of the Get-Gos! You'll receive a digital version of your cartoon self that you can use anywhere you like.

INSPIRATIONAL HAMBURGER!

We can all use a pep talk sometimes. I'll bring you out to my favorite hamburger spot and convince you to go after whatever it is you're wanting to do (if you're out of town, we'll chat on Skype). No more roadblocks: The Answer Is Yes! I'm also happy to discuss: cute sloths, depression, colorful ties, etc.

SONG COMMISSION!

Do you want your own Paul Melancon song? You and I will work together to come up with a concept for a song — give me some inspiration (whether it's one word, or a more specific prompt like a song for someone you love), and I'll write a song for you to do with what you will!

(Paul Melancon will retain songwriting and publishing rights to the song after it's complete.)

It's been a long few years since I last put out music, but the support of my community has made it possible to get back on my feet. If you're reading this, you're part of that community to me, and I will always be grateful. Thanks for taking the time to read this and for being on this journey with me.

Risks and challenges

Kickstarter can be a risky proposition: personal health issues, vendor delays, and more can add weeks onto the project. However, we've added in some "safety room" to our timeline and budget to make sure this project delivers as close to on-time as we can.
All the songs have been written and most of them are nearly complete, so I feel good about the studio time we have left. We're playing this safe.
Also, I've enlisted Angela M Webber of Doubleclicks Records, an official "Kickstarter Expert" program consultant, to help me manage this project, timelines, and logistics.